Bingowings said:
Monroville said:
just don't cut to the planet surface; as it stands, I think it looks quite impressive and could be a better alternative to what is in ANH:R. The main thing is that it doesn't come across as taking 10 minutes to a day for Alderaan to blow up, just to show Michael Bayhem in each of the cities (like what we get nowadays).

Seeing the green shockwave go around and the planet blowing up would still give it some kick while still happening quick enough to keep with the original's pace.

I also like the idea of seeing ships (like hundreds) leaving in the left side of the screen, on the opposite side of the DS and then getting wiped out from the shock wave, though at the same time Alderaanians probably wouldn't know what hit them (DS pops up, lots of people say "what the hell is that thing?!"; green laser comes out; blammo)

That doesn't explain the cries of terror that Ben goes on about though (if we take him at his word).

If the planet was snuffed out in one swoop without the Alderaanians knowing what hit them how could they be distressed enough to communicate fear to him via the Force?

Well, I'm sure the people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima had enough time (like a millisecond or two) to be surprised or shocked even though the atom bomb blast was near instantaneous. Same with Alderaan - they wouldn't really know what the Death Star was, since Tarkin never made contact nor responded to any. Still, some small moon you never seen before pops up in Earth's orbit, a few people are going to point up in the sky wondering just what the hell that thing is.. until the big green laser beam comes down. Then there would be just enough time for "a million people all crying out" (or whatever Ben said).